Fortnite was nominated for Best Ongoing Game at the 2023 Game Awards, and players can’t believe Cyberpunk 2077 took home the trophy.
This year’s Game Awards featured more than its fair share of surprises. PlayStation announced free DLC for God of War: Ragnarok. Xbox unveiled a Blade game from Deathloop developer Arkane Lyon. And Hideo Kojima brought Jordan Peele out on stage during the OD game presentation.
However, the awards part of the ceremony quickly became a point of contention online. Winners were only allotted 30 seconds to deliver their speeches. Plus, many awards were given away from the main stage, meaning several developers couldn’t share acceptance speeches at all.
A few snubs managed to shock the audience, too. For example, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 didn’t win any trophies despite receiving seven nominations. Fortnite fans were especially taken aback when learning who beat it for the Best Ongoing Game award.
Fortnite players can’t believe it got snubbed at The Game Awards
The Game Awards’ Best Ongoing category recognizes games “for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.” Five different titles were nominated for the 2023 ceremony – Apex Legends, Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, and Genshin Impact.
Cyberpunk 2077 won the top prize, thanks in no small part to its acclaimed Phantom Liberty expansion and 2.0 update. But Fortnite faithful argue the Epic game deserved the award since the game has enjoyed its best year to date.
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Popular Fortnite account HYPEX called attention to the snub in a recent Twitter post, “Woke up to Fortnite losing the ‘Best Ongoing Game’ to a game that shouldn’t even be there, after having their best year ever and literally proving what ‘Ongoing Game’ means…”
Woke up to Fortnite losing the "Best Ongoing Game" to a game that shouldn't even be there, after having their best year ever and literally proving what "Ongoing Game" means lmaoo.. Yeah I'm honestly glad I decided to sleep through the game awards 😭 pic.twitter.com/PSfYjKKtRq
— HYPEX (@HYPEX) December 8, 2023
Others in the comments agreed this particular Game Awards trophy should’ve gone to Fortnite. One person lamented, “Fortnite was so robbed it is obvious,” while posting a screenshot showing Cyberpunk 2077’s lower peak player count on Steam. Several more people in the thread shared similar data.
Another Fortnite-centric news page posted, “I’m just convinced they’re never going to win one again simply because the majority doesn’t want Fortnite to win.”
Reads a reply from someone else, “Even if you don’t play Fortnite.. from a purely objective standpoint.. Fortnite not winning is ABSURD.”
Fortnite has had quite an exceptional year, with its player count steadily climbing. Season OG was a massive success that delivered in spades. The Big Bang event drummed up plenty of hype, even beyond the Fortnite community. Now LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival are primed to bring in huge audiences in their own right.